Then the Blessed One, on that occasion and in that connection, after he had delivered a religious discourse, addressed the Bhikkhus, and said:

'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, the use of razors, of a hone to sharpen the razors on, of powder prepared with Sipâtika-gum to prevent them rusting 1, of a sheath to hold them in 2, and of all the apparatus of a barber 3.'

4. Now at that time the Khabbaggiya Bhikkhus wore (&c., as usual, down to)

'You are not, O Bhikkhus, to have your beards cut (by barbers) 4, nor to let them grow long, nor to wear them long on the chin like a goat's beard 5, nor so cut that they have four corners 6, nor to cut off the hair growing on your breast 7, nor to cut the hair on your bellies into figures 8, nor to wear whiskers 9, nor to remove the hair from your private parts 10. Whosoever does so, shall be guilty of a dukkata.'

138:4 Massum kappâpentî ti kattariyâ massumkhedâpenti (B.). On Kattari (a knife), see Gâtaka I, 223. It is clear from the first words of the next section that Buddhaghosa's explanation here is not quite accurate.